Via Uncle, we learn that NYC hipsters decided to make a movie about surviving off the grid. To do so, they decided that it would be a brilliant idea to illegally kill two deer outside of deer season and without a license. Their defense is that they didn’t even know there were hunting regulations.

The crew was practicing yoga inside the farm’s main house one day when someone spotted a herd of deer in the neighboring field. They grabbed a rifle and camera and ran outside, Dickinson said.

Actor Paul Manza, a 34-year-old Brooklyn yoga instructor who plays “Paul” the yoga instructor in the film and had no prior acting or hunting experience, pulled the trigger. It was unclear who owned the rifle or whether it was registered.

The bullet pierced one deer and passed into a second one behind it, killing the first deer and wounding the second one, Manza and Dickinson said. The crew chased the second deer into the woods and shot it again to put it out of its suffering, Manza said. …

Dickinson said he didn’t think about the legality of hunting and the crew did not secure a permit for the deer hunt — but he added that the film’s publicist, Jenny Lawhorn, is currently in discussions with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Only a jackass from New York City would send a publicist to negotiate something that, according to the article, starts with a $2,000 fine and can potentially include jail time.

It’s a high-end brand of yoga clothing. The only reason I have heard of them was because WSJ did an article on how they create demand by enforcing shortages. Considering they convince chicks to spend $100+ on a single pair of yoga pants, I’d say they’ve done a pretty good job at figuring out how to get fools to part with their money. Therefore, I just kind of naturally assume that a group of yoga enthusiasts from Brooklyn who never even thought about hunting laws would likely own some.

That may be, but their strategy for getting people to buy in the moment is pretty amusing. I guess if it’s the only way you can get it, it’s fine. But, they do limit their stores and their product runs on purpose to keep prices high.

What bitter said. It’s pretty much standard uniform for yuppie moms and 20somethings around here who want to project the appearance of being hip fit and athletic. Like folks who wear north face and pretend they just got off Mt Everst.

They had a pretty brutal murder at one of their stores in suburban MD this winter.

They didn’t intend to kill two deer. They intended to shoot one. But didn’t know what they were doing and wounded it (I bet they gut shot it). Making matters worse, they thought that bullets magically stop and were unaware that the target behind them would be hit.

MAJOR GUN SAFETY VIOLATION.

And in addition to three separate poaching violations – hunting without a license, and hunting deer without a deer tag (x2) they likely also violated the daily game limit on deer. Add in any local restrictions on buck vs doe tags and they’ve got a whole slew of game violations.

Plus, none had taken hunter safety. Thats another violation, in addition to not haven taken hunter safety.

As someone who hates the claim “Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse”, and these people clearly demonstrate ignorance, in spades, I’m inclined to think they ought to be extended mercy.

Not that our justice system recognizes such…but such is life.

Even so, I can’t help but wonder: how do you acquire a rifle, or decide to pick up a new activity as hunting, without doing gobs of research into it first? I suppose reckless spontaneity can lead you to do such things…and now that I think of it, I have a deep respect for spontaneity as well, so that gives me even more sympathy for these people…but I also have a tendency to deeply research things that suddenly catch my interest, so that takes away a bit of my sympathy.